Metro News Release

For immediate release: September 22, 2005

Metro To Receive 50 General Motors Hybrid Powered New Flyer Buses

Hybrid Buses Coming Soon to the Nation’s Capital

The first 50 GM Hybrid powered buses manufactured by New Flyer Industries will begin to roll into Metro’s fleet by the end of this year. Metro purchased 28 buses, and today agreed to buy 22 more demonstrating as part of its ongoing commitment to clean air.

The Washington Metropolitan region will join the growing ranks of communities  25 cities in the U.S. and Canada  to invest in new hybrid buses powered by General Motors’ clean hybrid technology, which offers greater fuel economy and dramatically lower emissions over conventional diesel buses.

"When going through the selection process, we reviewed various types of alternative fuel and hybrid propulsion systems for buses," said Jack Requa, chief operating officer for Metrobus. "The decision to go with the GM hybrid system was based on its proven use in other transit systems, and the overall benefits that the system will provide Metro and its passengers."

"GM’s hybrid technology offers significantly reduced noise and emissions, qualities that are particularly important and beneficial to the Washington area.," said Beth Lowery, GM vice president of Environment and Energy. "We applaud WMATA for its efforts."

These vehicles are the result of a collaboration between General Motors and New Flyer. "We have enjoyed a successful partnership in commercializing hybrid technology for the transit industry," said John Marinucci, President and CEO of New Flyer. "We are proud of the excellent reliability rates and significant fuel economy and maintenance cost savings our customers are reporting, and are proud to be able to showcase these products in our nation’s capital."

To date, General Motors has manufactured more than 364 hybrid-equipped buses operating in 25 cities across the U.S. and Canada.

"The General Motors hybrid diesel electric drive system for buses uses the most efficient parallel hybrid architecture available in the world today," said Tom Stephens, Group Vice President, for General Motors. "If the U.S. had only 1,000 GM hybrid powered buses operating in major cities, the cumulative savings would be more than 1.5 million gallons of fuel annually."

General Motors says the clean hybrid technology found in these buses produce 60 percent fewer oxides of nitrogen emissions and 90 percent fewer particulate, hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions. Other benefits of the buses include reduced maintenance costs resulting from extended brake, engine oil and transmission oil life; superior torque, giving 50 percent faster acceleration than conventional diesel buses and operational sound levels approaching that of passenger cars.

The clean hybrid technology is manufactured by GM’s Allison Transmission, maker of transmissions and hybrid propulsion systems for commercial trucks, buses, off-highway equipment and military vehicles, headquartered in Indianapolis. New Flyer Industries manufactures the buses. New Flyer is headquartered in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with two facilities in the U.S. and is the largest manufacturer of heavy-duty transit buses in North America.

News release issued on September 22, 2005.